Over the past weekend, the CompCare Polo Cup Championship’s Round 4 took place at the Aldo Scribante Racetrack in Gqeberha. QVWI Motorsport’s Farhaan Basha managed to overcome a frustrating weekend and finished the final 40-minute race in an impressive sixth place.
Basha had a disappointing start to his weekend as he struggled to keep up with the front runners, only managing to finish in the top 11 during practice. This frustration continued during qualifying, where he secured the tenth position. Despite the team’s bewilderment about their lack of pace, they made some minor adjustments to the car’s setup for the opening race on Saturday morning.
Basha entered Race 1 with confidence, aiming to improve his position and turn his fortunes around. However, that confidence soon turned to disappointment as the Johannesburg driver was involved in a four-car opening turn incident that saw him spin off the circuit. Although he could continue racing, he had to make a brief pit stop for necessary repairs before resuming. Relegated to the back of the field, he was focused on recording a fast lap time that would determine his starting position for the 40-minute endurance race later in the day.
Courtesy of his Race 1 lap time, Basha would start the endurance race in sixth place. Another opening turn incident would see the race red-flagged and paused for more than 30 minutes, with medical staff and officials attending to the drivers involved and recovering the stricken cars. The race would later resume with a third of the field not making it onto the grid. In the 30-minute race, Basha stayed in sixth place after the restart but briefly fell to seventh when Dawie van der Merwe passed him. Basha managed to keep his position and finished in seventh place when the 30 minutes were up. However, he was classified as the tenth-place finisher when the race times were combined.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great round for us. We spent the entire weekend chasing our tails, and we’re still a bit perplexed. We arrived here confident we could take the fight to the front runners, but we honestly don’t know why our pace is lacking. Then to add insult to injury, I was involved in the opening race fiasco that saw the car quite damaged. But we pushed on, hoping to get in a good lap time for a strong starting position in Race 2. Things were better in Race 2, but still, nowhere we wanted to be in terms of lap time. We will head home, debrief and look to bounce back at East London,” said Basha.
Basha thanks all his sponsors for their support throughout. Round 5 of the CompCare Polo Cup resumes at the Border Motorsport East London Grand Prix Circuit on 21-22 July.
Published by: Motorsport Fanatix
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